The first Lock Hospital was
built in Southwark during the 12th century; it specialised in treating
leprosy. The name 'Lock' was derived from the rags or locks (Old
Fr. loques) that covered the
patients' sores.

Leprosy had virtually disappeared in England by the 15th century and
the lazar (leper) hospitals became redundant. Some hospital
became derelict while others were used for new purposes. Some
lazar hospitals began to treat venereal disease. The Southwark
Lock Hospital closed in 1760, but the name lived on in the London Lock
Hospital until the mid 20th century.

The first specialist voluntary hospital of any kind to be established
in London, it opened in 1747 for the treatment of venereal disease.
The London Lock Hospital was founded by William Bromfield in a
purpose-built building in Grosvenor Place, near Hyde Park Corner.
It was immensely popular, although the treatments then available
were
ineffective. It was the Hospital's policy then never to readmit a
patient once discharged.

The Lock Asylum for the Reception of Penitent Female Patients, which
had been proposed in 1787, finally opened in 1792 as a refuge for women
who had received treatment at the Hospital but had no steady life to
return to; they were taught needlework and other skills in the hope
that they could be employed in service. Originally located at 5-6
Osnaburg Row, the Asylum moved to a building opposite the Cannon
Brewery in Knightsbridge in 1812, then to Lower Eaton Street in 1816.

In 1842 the Hospital moved to a 4
acre site in Harrow Road bought from the Great Western Railway Co.
Additional
wings for the Lock Asylum opened in 1849, so that the 'fallen' inmates
could be nearer to the Chapel.

In 1862 a new branch opened at 91 Dean
Street for male out-patients. The Harrow building was renamed
the 'Female Hospital'.

An east wing was added in 1867; the main block was also heightened.

By 1890 there were 140 beds for women. The Asylum had 40 beds.
In 1893 the Hospital and Asylum were renamed the London Lock
Hospital and Rescue Home.

A Nurses' Home was added to the east wing in 1909. In 1917 a
maternity unit was opened and, at the request of the LCC, a special
unit for mentally defective women with venereal disease. An
ophthalmology department and an electrotherapy unit were established as
well as a genitourinary unit, which treated both venereal and
non-venereal disorders.

By 1932 the number of beds had been reduced. In 1938 a new
maternity centre opened next door at No. 283A.

During WW2 it became a Military Isolation Hospital.

In 1948 the Hospital joined the NHS and became the Out-Patients
Department of Paddington Hospital.

It closed in 1952. The Chapel and west wing were demolished soon
after, but the surviving buildings were used for offices and record
storage by the St Charles Group until 1968, when they became vacant.

Present status (February 2008)
The site has been redeveloped into housing.

The Hospital was built on land adjacent
to and north of the Grand Junction Canal and east of the Paddington
workhouse (above and below).